Btw, here's a funky bug I noticed. If you're a Thane in a certain region, you can get the guards to forgive your crime if they catch you.

However, for some reason, the Jarl and his personal guard will go absolutely apeshit if they see you after this has happened. The only way to fix it that I've found so far is to commit another crime and go to jail for it.

In the end it's just easier not to use the Thane's Forgiveness feature.

Also rabbits can report crimes so if you can't find a witness to your crime, go looking for a rabbit and kill it. Took me like 5 minutes to figure out who saw me kill some random farmer who made a comment about my characters garb. They got the chickens but I guess they missed the wabbits.

Verno wrote on Nov 22, 2011, 09:59:Just remember to get that mod that nerfs the exp bonus from the higher difficulties. I was wondering why I was like level 45 after playing 20 hours, it turns out anything above Normal gets an increasingly large exp bonus.

Wha really? I'm level 24 and I've only done a few side quests in Whiterun, cleared some nearby caves/forts and did some side quests in Ivarstead. I'll be climbing the stairs tonight. But I assume the majority of my XP is from lvl 60 archery and lvl 90 pickpocket. One-hand, light armor, sneak, and lockpick are in the 30's somewhere.

Verno wrote on Nov 22, 2011, 09:59:Just remember to get that mod that nerfs the exp bonus from the higher difficulties. I was wondering why I was like level 45 after playing 20 hours, it turns out anything above Normal gets an increasingly large exp bonus.

So that explains it. I'm already level 32, it's a little late to stop it completely.

Just remember to get that mod that nerfs the exp bonus from the higher difficulties. I was wondering why I was like level 45 after playing 20 hours, it turns out anything above Normal gets an increasingly large exp bonus.

Creston wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 11:51:Alternatively, set the diff to the highest. I did that once and got utterly destroyed by a Thalmor squad, so... It's definitely possible.

Creston

IMO setting the difficulty to "Master" is the only way to get this game even *close* to the difficulty level of previous TES games.

The early game is a joke, you start off OP as hell. When I realized that I could take out the entire first village before hitting level 5 I jacked up the difficulty to the max and I'm still having a hard time being challenged by this game. Can't wait for a proper balancing mod comes around to turn this into a real elder scrolls RPG (one that doesnt hold your hand every step of the way and starts off without you being the fucking jack-of-all-trades RPG macgyver). I know it had to be dumbed down for people with short attention spans and 70ft tv's, but some of the design choices in this game are downright shameful.

I guess it's a testament to the beauty of the game & fulfilling sense of exploration, that I have over 50 hours put into this sucker already.

Master is, imho, the "perfect" difficulty level. Tough enemies are tough, easy enemies are still easy, and there's plenty of in-between. You need to think about encounters, use your spells and potions intelligently, and keep your gear at least matching your level. I was watching someone play Normal and they just flattened everything with crappy gear while barely touching potions and half-assing their conjuration/alteration spells; no fun at all.

5 years ago, on a 1-5 difficulty scale, Master probably would have been a 4. 10 years ago, it would have been a 3 in most games.

edit: (As far as starting as a jack-of-all-trades: I don't mind that so much. You start with your skills all just about equally crappy, which lets you grow into whichever skillset you like best. I'd rather that than being forced to make the choice at the start and being stuck with it.

Being OP? Villagers are pretty soft targets, but whatever. I don't expect a village of farmers to be crack warriors. I'll still be taken down if I try to 1v1 a snow bear sloppily. Maybe I don't have an "optimal" build or something. Targets do level up with you, but it's less offensive than Oblivion and there are caves that are not friendly to lower-level characters (I remember hitting one full of cave bears when I was still under level 20; no chance at all)

Non-combat skills are too simple; I've rarely failed a persuasion despite having no perks in speaking, and lock picking is easy.)

Creston wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 11:51:Alternatively, set the diff to the highest. I did that once and got utterly destroyed by a Thalmor squad, so... It's definitely possible.

Creston

IMO setting the difficulty to "Master" is the only way to get this game even *close* to the difficulty level of previous TES games.

The early game is a joke, you start off OP as hell. When I realized that I could take out the entire first village before hitting level 5 I jacked up the difficulty to the max and I'm still having a hard time being challenged by this game. Can't wait for a proper balancing mod comes around to turn this into a real elder scrolls RPG (one that doesnt hold your hand every step of the way and starts off without you being the fucking jack-of-all-trades RPG macgyver). I know it had to be dumbed down for people with short attention spans and 70ft tv's, but some of the design choices in this game are downright shameful.

I guess it's a testament to the beauty of the game & fulfilling sense of exploration, that I have over 50 hours put into this sucker already.

And I can't level alchemy because it's fucking impossible to level by making potions.

You level up a lot faster by discovering new effects from ingredients. Of course, once you've discovered all the effects, you're kinda screwed.

I have hundreds of alc mats in my 'bank' (chest)... With no intention of using them heh... Kinda wished you could transfer some stuff to a new character... I have finally forced myself to stop picking up so much junk (mostly vendor trash)... I have like 60k gold, and nothing to spend it on (haven't ever purchased training).

Creston wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 11:17:I've beaten quite a few dragons, but that's because I actively seek out the Shout Stones (whatever they're called) in the wilderness, and they always have a Dragon with them.

I came across one that was unguarded, and unmarked. It was near a daedric shrine, but far enough away that I almost totally missed it thinking it was just another rock. I missed it on the way to the shrine, but just noticed on the way back.

I got attacked by not one but two dragons outside Whiterun yesterday. Luckily they were only frost/regular dragons.

Actually, I think magic is a bit overpowered. Destruction magic is incredibly effective with just some of the basic spells, though I suggest using alchemy to make potions - either to use or to sell to buy better ones. Long before the archmage equipment I had decent necromancer robes and could take down dragons in less than 10 seconds (easier in open areas). If you're having trouble I'd higher recommend grabbing a side-kick; a mage is quite effective.

I dunno what it is but I find conjuration a lot less effective than in Oblivion, where most of the time I would use summons to distract most enemies. Now it's just not worth the time, even with dual-wielding effectively making it free to have equipped. I think the problem is that by making spells more powerful when combined it reduces your desire to try different combinations, like fire + summon. I tend to stick to firebolt / incineration dual-wielding, varying things up with shouts.

Bullshit. I'm level 32 now on the mage, which is the point where my melee character became absolutely godlike. I've been using the 20% mage stone the entire game and my destruction is only 60. And I can't level alchemy because it's fucking impossible to level by making potions. I can pick up every ingredient I see for a god damn hour and making potions out of them will get me MAYBE TWO levels. My enchant skill, on the other hand, is already level 90... but it doesn't fucking do anything to increase my damage because mage equipment fucking sucks.

And you missed the point where I said spells were boring. Seriously? Firebolt? What is this, 1985? Use your fucking imagination, Bethesda.

InBlack wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 10:54:In any case this was miles away from Whiterun in the middle of nowhere and was one of those WoW AI Moments. I mean how cool is that, NPCs venturing out in the wilderness to fight monsters and shit.

The coolest AI moment I've had in game, is just after I became Thane of some city (may or may not be related), I got a bit overencumbered (quest that was like.. here, take all this useless shit)...

So I start throwing this useless shit out in the middle of the street... A courier, that just dropped something off to me, runs over, and says that he noticed me throwing shit on the ground, and could he please take it? I said yes, so he walked over and start picking up (and wearing) the stuff I threw down... Then he said something else I missed, and gave me back a bow I chucked heh... Which I had to chuck again, but that's ok, because I was laughing (and pointing it out to the wife) what was going on...

InBlack wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 10:54:In any case this was miles away from Whiterun in the middle of nowhere and was one of those WoW AI Moments. I mean how cool is that, NPCs venturing out in the wilderness to fight monsters and shit.

The coolest AI moment I've had in game, is just after I became Thane of some city (may or may not be related), I got a bit overencumbered (quest that was like.. here, take all this useless shit)...

So I start throwing this useless shit out in the middle of the street... A courier, that just dropped something off to me, runs over, and says that he noticed me throwing shit on the ground, and could he please take it? I said yes, so he walked over and start picking up (and wearing) the stuff I threw down... Then he said something else I missed, and gave me back a bow I chucked heh... Which I had to chuck again, but that's ok, because I was laughing (and pointing it out to the wife) what was going on...

Creston wrote on Nov 21, 2011, 11:17:I think if you overpower yourself in this game, it becomes boring way too quickly. If you don't go for the 100 smithing and enchanting, and don't give yourself Godly Armor of Unkillability, it remains much more of a challenge.

That's pretty hard not to do. The ONLY skills I have actively developed are Archery and Smithing. My high Stealth just came along for the ride. Didn't train or grind and it's already at 100. So if I'm only actively developing two out of eighteen skills, how could that be considered power leveling? The only alternative is to become a jack of all trades and develop a little bit of every skill but I find the rest of them boring. That's reverse grinding: actively doing boring things in the game to simply NOT develop specific skills.

In Oblivion there was a true power-leveling technique: choosing main skills you rarely used so you could level when you wanted to. In Skyrim - thankfully - that option is gone. But it's still too easy to become overpowered.

I didn't say powerleveling. I said don't overpower yourself. Smithing and enchanting are horribly overpowered. Stay away from them and you'll have a much more challenging experience. (or, at least, don't use them to make absurdly powerful items)

I'm level 44, 100 archery, 100 sneak, 100 pickpocket. I have 80 smithing, but that's because I make absolute shitloads of jewelry. I'm like Kay and DeBeers rolled into one.

If I'm sneaking and shooting, I plow through everything with ease. But when I'm running around and get jumped by something powerful, it's still a challenge, even at level 44.

Alternatively, set the diff to the highest. I did that once and got utterly destroyed by a Thalmor squad, so... It's definitely possible.